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# Texas Senator Resigns to Lead Comptroller’s Office, Citing Broadband as Key Priority
- URL: https://broadbandbreakfast.com/texas-senator-resigns-to-lead-comptrollers-office-citing-broadband-as-key-priority/
- Published: 2025-06-20T21:04:42.000Z
- Updated: 2026-03-11T05:51:20.000Z
- Description: Kelly Hancock to replace Glenn Hegar, who clashed with NTIA and floated returning $1B in broadband funds
- Author: Jericho Casper
- Tags: BEAD, #with-siderail, Kelly Hancock, Glenn Hegar, Texas, Texas Comptroller, Texas A&M, Texas Broadband Development Office, Texas Match Assistance Program, NTIA, Treasury, Congress

WASHINGTON, June 20, 2025 – Texas Sen. **Kelly Hancock**, a Republican lawmaker with ties to broadband expansion policy, has resigned from the Legislature to lead the Comptroller’s Office – just as the state prepares to distribute billions in federal and state broadband funds.

Hancock replaces outgoing Comptroller **Glenn Hegar**, who is leaving the post to become chancellor of the Texas A&M University System. Hancock was sworn in Thursday at the Comptroller’s Office in Austin and will officially assume his new role on July 1.

A Republican from North Richland Hills, Hancock previously represented parts of Fort Worth and Arlington in the Texas Senate. In [a statement](https://comptroller.texas.gov/about/media-center/news/20250619-texas-comptroller-glenn-hegar-welcomes-kelly-hancock-to-comptrollers-office-1750300171508?ref=broadbandbreakfast.com), Hancock said he would continue the office’s work “safeguarding tax dollars, ensuring transparency,” and implementing “forward-thinking initiatives like education savings accounts and broadband expansion.”

[![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/29/97/29976d9d-89ea-4c77-8c0b-0e8a0eafed35/content/images/2025/06/bead_event_base_graphic-1.png)](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/speeding-bead-summit) 

***FROM SPEEDING BEAD SUMMIT**  
***Panel 1: How Are States Thinking About Reasonable Costs Now?**  
***Panel 2: Finding the State Versus Federal Balance in BEAD**  
***Panel 3: Reacting to the New BEAD NOFO Guidance**  
***Panel 4: Building, Maintaining and Adopting Digital Workforce Skills**

[All Videos from Speeding BEAD Summit ](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/speeding-bead-summit) 

The Texas Comptroller’s Office oversees the state’s Broadband Development Office, which administers both the state’s $3.3 billion allocation under the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program and an additional $500 million in state funding through the Texas Match Assistance Program. Together, the two sources comprise a [$3.8 billion broadband grant window](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/texas-opens-3-8-billion-broadband-grant-window/).

Outgoing Comptroller Glenn Hegar took a combative stance toward key BEAD rules — many of which have since been softened. 

Hegar [urged members of Congress in February](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/texas-pushes-to-eliminate-bead-low-cost-broadband-requirement/) to eliminate the low-cost broadband requirement, calling it a form of “rate regulation,” to relax the program’s preference for fiber in favor of satellite and wireless in hard-to-reach areas, and to roll back labor, permitting, and cybersecurity mandates. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration has [since revised its guidance](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/breaking-trump-administration-rescinds-awards-updates-bead/) on several of these fronts.

In March, Hegar signaled that Texas might [return up to $1 billion](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/texas-may-return-1-billion-in-bead-funding-to-treasury/) in unneeded BEAD funding, citing private-sector growth and the state’s own broadband investments. He also pushed to repurpose some of the money for non-deployment uses, such as workforce development and healthcare.

The Comptroller’s Office and BDO opened the state’s $3.8 billion broadband grant window in May, but have since [withdrawn their initial funding notice](https://comptroller.texas.gov/programs/broadband/funding/bead/?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) to realign with updated NTIA guidance. 

Hancock has not yet indicated whether he shares Hegar’s appetite for returning a portion of the state’s broadband funds.